Of late the term Iberian Studies has been gaining academic currency, but its semantic scope still fluctuates. For some it is a convenient way of combining the official cultures of two states, Portugal and Spain; yet for others the term opens up disciplinary space, altering established routines. Shattering the state’s epistemological frame complexifies the field through the emergence of lines of inquiry and bodies of knowledge hitherto written off as irrelevant.  This more complex understanding of the term has been gaining ground despite disciplinary inertia, as always happens with new epistemic paradigms according to Thomas Kuhn.
 
This conference brings together scholars whose work shows awareness of the cultural and linguistic complexity of the field to discuss the institutional challenges to the practice of Iberian Studies and to share work conceived from that relational point of view.